A new poll shows Black voters believe President Joe Biden performed better than Donald Trump during Thursday’s debate, suggesting Trump’s remarks about “Black jobs” may have caused him damage with the crucial bloc.
Recent polls have indicated that former President Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee, was making inroads with Black voters, a key demographic that propelled Biden to the White House in 2020.
Although polls show that Black voters remain overwhelmingly supportive of Biden, minor shifts in voting patterns could sway races in battleground states in November’s election.
A CBS News/YouGov poll that surveyed 1,130 registered voters between June 28 and 29 found that Americans overall think Trump “won” the debate—56 percent said Trump performed better, while only 16 percent said Biden.
However, the poll found that when it came to just Black voters, more thought Biden had “won” the debate: 39 percent said Biden did the better job, 25 percent said Trump did, and 35 percent thought it was a tie.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump and Biden campaigns via email for comment.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
The poll’s results suggest that Trump’s comments about migrants taking “Black jobs” during the debate may have had an impact on Black voters.
“The fact is that [Biden’s] big kill on the Black people is the millions of people that he’s allowed to come in through the border. They’re taking Black jobs now,” Trump said during the debate on CNN. “They’re taking Black jobs, and they’re taking Hispanic jobs.”
There is no evidence to suggest that those in the country unlawfully are taking jobs that would otherwise go to American citizens.
However, the survey also reflected the impact of Biden’s shaky performance during the debate—where he spoke in a raspy voice, at times stumbled over his answers and appeared to lose his train of thought—which has sparked calls for him to be replaced at the top of the Democratic ticket ahead of November’s election.
The CBS News poll found that almost three-quarters of voters (72 percent) believe Biden should not be running for president, up from 63 percent in February.
Black voters were more split on that question—55 percent said Biden should be running, while 45 percent said he should not.
Black voters also backed Biden over Trump in every other debate-related question asked in the survey.
Twenty-seven percent thought Biden presented his ideas clearly, compared to 22 percent who thought Trump did. However, 30 percent of Black voters thought neither candidate did.
Similarly, 28 percent thought Biden inspired confidence, while only 17 percent thought the same of Trump. But once again, a plurality of Black voters—42 percent—thought neither candidate inspired confidence.
But a majority of Black voters—63 percent—said only Biden told the truth during the debate, while only 10 percent said the same of Trump. Another 8 percent said both candidates told the truth, while 19 percent said neither had.
The poll had a margin of error of 4.2 points.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.